Capstan wire handler



4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 13, 1961 FIG. 1

INVENTOR WALTER P. SHAW BY p.- 4 Ana-1 ATTORNEY Nov. 17, 1964 w. P. SHAW 3,155,969

CAPSTAN WIRE HANDLER Filed March 13, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 17, 1964 w. P. SHAW 3, 56,969

CAPSTAN WIRE HANDLER Filed March 13, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 5

Nov. 17, 1964 W. P. SHAW CAPSTAN WIRE HANDLER Filed March 15, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 8

United States Patent 3,155,969 CAPSTAN HANDLER Walter P. Shaw, Jericho, Vt., assignor to International Business Machines Qurporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Yorlr Filed Mar. 13, 1%1, Ser. No. 95,296 7 (Jlairns. (Cl. 29-1555) This invention relates to manufacturing aids and more particularly to a device for wiring magnetic core devices.

In the past, the operation of threading a wire back and forth through rows of magnetic cores has been made difficult due to the snarling or tangling of loops formed in the wires. Many devices such, as weighed pulleys, vacuurn columns and the like, have been used with indifferent success. The present device is designed to prevent snarling of the wire during the threading of such components.

It is therefore the main object of this invention to provide an improved method and device for controlling the wire While threading an electrical component.

A further object of this invention is to provide a device to maintain constant tension on a wire during the threading of magnetic cores.

Another object is to provide a device for feeding a wire through a plurality of rows of magnetic cores without snarling the wire.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which disclose by way of example the principle of the invention and the best mode which has been contemplated of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the invention taken along the plane 11 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a cross section of the device taken along 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a winding stand for filling a drum with wire for use in the invention.

FIG. 4 is a detail of a counter device on the winding stand.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the feeding portion of the invention with parts broken away to show the drive.

FIG. 6 is a cross section taken along line 66 of FIG. 5 showing the drive in elevation.

FIG. 7 is a cross section taken along line 7-'7 of FIG. 5 showing the method of spacing the main plates of the drive.

FIG. 8 is an isometric showing of the relation of the wires and cores with the capstans.

This device has its principle use in threading the socalled Z or third wire in a magnetic core plane. The X and Y wires are single wires that are threaded through a hollow needle inserted through a row of cores as described in the patent W. P. Shaw et al. 2,958,126. At present the Z wire, a continuous very fine single strand, is welded to a needle of about the same diameter. Sumcient wire to thread possibly twenty rows is attached to the needle which will be inserted in one end of a row of cores and drawn out the other. The entire wire must then be drawn through before threading the second row. After the second row is threaded a small loop must be left between the first and second rows. During this threading the loop often snarls and forms small loops that break the wire. Before the third row can be threaded all of the wire must again be drawn through the row o cores. This operation must be repeated at each row a number of times equal to the number of rows with the possibility of snags and breakage at each row.

A decided advantage in the invention over the present method is derived from the fact that the wire is under ice constant tension since feeding is controlled by loops of wire passing around a plurality of motor driven capstans. This provides even, continuous feed for the wire with a minimum of tension and no. possibility of snagging.

A core is located at each intersection of the X and Y wires, the ends of which are wrapped around terminal pins It? in the four edges of a frame 11 and the Z wire is threaded as shown inFIG. 8 through the cores 12 of an individual row and then around a capstan 14. The correct amount of wire to thread the upper half of a core plane is wound on a drum 15 (FIG. 3") that is carried on a spindle 16 journalled in a stand 17". The spindle 1a is formed with a notch 18 adapted to. be engaged by a spring pressed plunger 20 in the drum thereby preventing longitudinal displacement during normal operation. A pin 21 in a cam 22 secured to spindle 16 is adapted to engage a hole 23. provided in either end of the drum. This permits the drum to be placed on the spindle for one operation and later be removed and replaced in end for end relation. The cam 22 engages a lever 24 secured to the shaft of a counter 25 that will count the number of revolutions of the drum when rotated by a hand wheel 26 secured to the spindle 17. Pivoted to the stand 17 at 27 is a bar 28 having a pad 30 of rubber or other suitable friction material secured on the bottom thereof. A leaf spring 31 secured in a recess 32 in the stand 17 acts on the end of bar 23 to force pad 30 into frictional contact with the drum to insure an even winding of wire. The loose end of the first lay of wire may be fastened by any well known means such as a spring or friction tape. The stand 17 carrying the drum is positioned as indicated in FIG. 1 with the open end of the drum facing the jig or nest 33 for the core plane. This permits the wire to be Withdrawn from the end of the drum as it is used in wiring the cores. The threading is started in the extreme right hand row of the upper left hand quadrant of the plane and progresses toward the left in FIG. 1 until the upper quadrant is wired. The drum 15 is then reversed end for end on the spindle 16 and the jig is moved as will be described later to position the capstan feed under the upper right hand quadrant of the plane. The other end of the wire is released from the drum and used to thread the extreme left hand row of the quadrant and progresses toward the right until the upper right quadrant is wired. The slack remaining on the drum is taken up until the wire in the left hand quadrant is a continuation, without slack, of the wire in the right hand quadrant.

The jig 33 is in the form of a hollow rectangular frame as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the inner edges of which are recessed to form ledges 34 that provide a nest for the core plane or frame 11 and is recessed at 35 to provide finger holes to assist in positioning the core plane. Secured in the jig at four points are pins 36, the purpose of which will be described later.

Supporting the jig 33 is a plate 43 that forms the sloping top of a motor enclosure 41 and a base plate for the jig. Mounted on the base of the enclosure by a bracket 4-2 is a'motor 43 for driving the capstans 14. Also secured to the center of base plate 48 is a gear box 44 containing the gear trains for driving the capstans.

A series of holes 45 at the corners of four rectangles are drilled in the plate ill and are connected by grooves 4-6 out in the surface of the plate. The pins 3 6 protruding from the bottom of jig 33 are adapted to cooperate with the holes 45 and grooves or tracks 46 for locating and guiding the jig during the movement between the winding of the quadrants. More specifically the pins 36 are in the holes 45 as seen in FIG. 1 during the threading of the first or left hand quadrant. When that is wired it is necessary to move the jig so that the wires and cores of the second quadrant can be located with respect to greases s the capstans 14. To do this the jig is raised by grasping finger holes 39 and withdrawing pins 36 from holes 45 and sliding their ends along tracks 46 until the pins drop into the holes 45'. To reach the lower right hand quadrant the pins are slid along tracks 46 to engage holes 45". Tracks 46 are used to reach the lower left hand quadrant.

The gear box 44 comprises a base 47 (P16. 6) which is secured to the base plate 4% by the four bolts 48, each of which engages a spacer 59 (FIG. 7) having reduced portions 51 and 52 fitted into holes in each corner of bearing plates 53 and 54. The shoulders of the center portions of the spacers 50 act to align and space the bearing plates 53 and 54 to provide free rotation of the plurality of gear shafts and capstans. A top plate 55 is secured to the top bearing plate by a countersunk bolt 56 in each corner. A cover to protect the gearing is formed of an open box 57 across the top of which is fastened a plate 58 slotted at 60 to accommodate the capstans 14.

The gearing for driving the capstans 14 is driven by motor 43 through main shaft 61 on which is secured a spacing collar 62 and a pinion 63. The train for driving a capstan 14 comprises pinion d4 driven by main pinion 63, pinions 65 and 66, 66 meshing with a pinion formed on capstans 14 and 14'. Capstan 14' drives pinion 67 that drives capstan 14 which in turn drives pinion 68 and so forth through the train driving all the capstans in the same direction. The train 79, 71, 72, etc., drives in the same manner and direction. A similar set of pinions for driving the upper set of capstans 14 is hidden by plates 54 and 55.

Operation The core planes as explained above are already Wired with X and Y wires that are wound off on terminals The plane is dropped into the nest'formed by shoulders 34 with an X" wire positioned on each side of a capstan 14 (FIG. 8). It will be noted that the capstans 14 at each end are staggered with relation to those at the opposite end. In other words, at the end not shown a capstan would be located on a center line 73 equidistant from the center of the capstans shown.

To insert the Z wire as described above the wire is unwound from drum and a stiff wire or needle '75 is secured by welding or any well known means to the free end. This needle which is slightly longer than a row of cores is then passed through the innermost row in the quadrant as explained above, and around a capstan 14. Sufficient wire is then drawn through the cores to permit free use of the needle which is then passed through the second row of cores to the other end. By this time there is enough friction between the wire and capstan to permit the use of the feed. The motor circuit is closed by a foot pedal switch or other well known control means and the capstans are driven feeding the 'wire through the first and second rows until sufficient wire has been provided to thread the third row. The needle is then passed through the third row of cores. The wire is now being fed by a capstan 14 at each end. The drive is again operated to feed a supply of wire for the fourth row. It is then passed around the third capstan and throughthe cores of the fourth row. This is continued until the quadrant is threaded. The plane is now raised out of the nest thus removing the loops of wire from the capstans. The jig 33 is then shifted as described above and theplane replaced to permit thread ing of a second quadrant by the other end of the wire 7 from drum 15.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention,

What is claimed is:

1. In a device for feeding a continuous filament over a serpentine path through rows of components arranged on X and Y wires within a frame, a nest for said frame and components, a plurality of capstans associated with said nest, one capstan between each row of components on an X wire, means for threading said filament through a row of said components after being wrapped about an adjacent capstan, and drive means for said capstans whereby said filament is fed by said capstans through all of said components already threaded.

2. In a device for feeding a continuous filament over a serpentine path through rows of components arranged on X and Y wires within a frame, a nest for said frame and components, a rotatable feeding means associated with said nest, means for manually threading said filament through a row of X wires after being wrapped about an adjacent feeding means, drive means for said feeding means whereby said filament is carried by said feeding means through said components already threaded, and positioning means for locating said nest with relation to said feeding means to permit feeding said filament through a selected group of rows of components.

3. in a device for feeding a continuous wire over a serpentine path through rows of magnetic cores arranged on X and Y wires within a frame; a nest for said frame; a base for said nest; two groups of capstans rotatably mounted on said base, the capstans of one group being associated with one end of a group of rows of said cores, the capstans of the second group being associated with the other end of said group, one capstan for each row, said wire being looped about a capstan as a row is manually threaded; pins in said nest cooperating with said base to locate a preselected group of rows of cores in relation to said capstans; guide slots in said base cooperating with said pins to guide said nest during movement from one preselected group of cores to another; a motor driven gear train for uniformly driving said capstans to feed the wire through rows already threaded; and means for actuating said motor at will.

4. In a device for feeding a continuous wire over a serpentine path through rows of magnetic cores arranged in rows on X and Y wires within a frame; a nest for said frame, a base for said nest; two groups of capstans mounted on said base, one group of said capstans being associated with one end of a group of rows of said cores, the other group of said capstans being associated with the other end of said group of rows, said wire being looped about capstans an adjacent capstan as a row is threaded manually; pins in said nest cooperating with said base to locate a preselected group of rows of cores in relation to said capstans, and guide slots in said base cooperating with said pins to guide said nest during movement from one preselected group to another; a motor driven gear train for uniformly driving said capstans to feed the wire already threaded; and means for actuating said motor at will.

5. The method of feeding a continuous filament through rows of components carried in rows on X and Y wires in a frame, the rows being divided in four quadrants comprising the fitting of said frame in a nest, reeling sufficient filament for threading a predetermined number of rows in two quadrants onto a storage drum, welding a needle to one end of said filament, withdrawing sufiicient filament from one end of said drum to thread one row of components, passing said needle through a row at one side of and adjacent to the center of said frame, drawing sufiicient filament through said row to fill the next row, passing said filament around a rotatable feeding means, threading said filament through the next adjacent row away from the center of said frame, withdrawing the needle with sufficient filament for the third row, operating a control for driving said rotatable feeding means-to feed filament from said drum through the rows already threaded, said operations of threading and feeding con- 5 tinuiru until all rows to the edge of a quadrant are threaded, shifting said nest to position the rows of components in an adjacent quadrant in operative relation with said feeding means and reversing said drum to withdraw the filament from the opposite end of said drum.

6. The method of feeding a continuous wire through rows of magnetic cores carried in row on X and -Y wires in a frame, the rows oeing divided in four quadrants comprising the fitting of said frame in a nest, reeling sufieient wire for threading the rows of two quadrants onto a storaae drum, welding a needle to one end of said wire, withdrawing suflicient wire from one end of said drum to thread one row of cores, passing said needle through a row at one side of and adjacent to the center of said frame, drawing sufiicient wire through said row to fill the next row, passing said wire around one of a plurality of rotatable capstans, threading said wire through the next adjacent row away from the center of said frame, withdrawin the needle with sufficient wire for a third row, operating a control for driving said capstan to feed wire from said drum through the rows already threaded, said operation continuing until all rows to the edge of a quadrant are threaded, shifting said nest to position the rows of cores in an adjacent quadrant in operative relation 6 with said capstans and reversing said drum to Withdraw wire from the opposite end of said drum.

7. The method of feeding a continuous filament sequentially through a plurality of rows of components arranged at the intersection of wires secured in a frame, comprising the steps of locating said frame in a nest having a rotatably driven feeding means positioned between the ends of adiacent rows of components, manually threading through one of said rows a portion of said filament equal to twice the length of said row, engaging said filament with said feeding means, manually threading an adjacent row of said components and simultaneously operating the drive of said feeding means to feed sufficient filament to permit the threading or" a third row of said components and continuing the operations of threading and feeding said filament until all rows are threaded.

References (Jited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,327,428 Hothersall Aug. 24, 1943 2,439,892 Huck Apr. 20, 1948 2,958,126 Shaw et a1. Nov. 1, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 827,827 Great Britain Feb. 10, 1960 

1. IN A DEVICE FOR FEEDING A CONTINUOUS FILAMENT OVER A SERPENTINE PATH THROUGH ROWS OF COMPONENTS ARRANGED ON X AND Y WIRES WITHIN A FRAME, A NEST FOR SAID FRAME AND COMPONENTS, A PLURALITY OF CAPSTANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID NEST, ONE CAPSTAN BETWEEN EACH ROW OF COMPONENTS ON AN X WIRE, MEANS FOR THREADING SAID FILAMENT THROUGH A ROW OF SAID COMPONENTS AFTER BEING WRAPPED ABOUT AN ADJACENT CAPSTAN, AND DRIVE MEANS FOR SAID CAPSTANS WHEREBY SAID FILAMENT IS FED BY SAID CAPSTANS THROUGH ALL OF SAID COMPONENTS ALREADY THREADED. 